Torpedo-fork.



No. 753,692. PATENT-ED MAR,1,.1904Q E. H. FRANK & H. E. STQRBR.

TORPEDO FORK.

APPLIC ATION FILED SEPT. 21, 1903.

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I No. 753,692.

Patented March 1, 1904.

UNITED: STATES PATIENT OFF CE.

. "EDWARD H. FRANK SANDHENRY E. sToRER, OF GENTRALIA, ILLINOIS.

'TORPEDO-FORKQ SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 753, 92, dated-March 1, 1904. ,j

I Application filed September 21,1903. Seria1No. 174,098- (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD H; FRANK and HENRY E. SroRER, citizens of the United States, and residents of Centralia, Marion 5 county, State of Illinois, have invented certain new.and useful Improvements in Torpedo- Forks, of which the following is a specification. Our invention relates to torpedo-forks for placing torpedoes upon rails of a railway while I the train or car is in motion. a

Our object is to provide a torpedo-fork which will be durable and simple in construction and which shall embody such features as will insure the proper placing of the tor- 115 pedo while the train or car is in motion and which at the same time will guard against premature explosion of the torpedo as it is jammed down onto the rail.

With these objects in view our invention 2 consists in the novel construction of torpedofork and details thereof, as hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawing, and more particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the drawing the figure represents a side elevation, partly in section, of a double torpedo-fork embodying our invention, one torpedo being shown in position.

The fork is preferably made double, the j aws.

Entending laterally from the side of the body 3 is an arm 6, having adoWnwardly-bent 4 portion 7, terminating in an enlargement 8, in which is formed a suitable socket or recess 9, adapted to receive and retain one end of the torpedo-spring 10, carrying a torpedo 11 suitably secured thereto. A similar socket or recess 9 is formed in the lower part of the body 3 opposite the recess 9 of the arm 7. These sockets or recesses, are open at the top and are so shaped that the walls on the inner, rear, and front sides will confine the ends of 5 the torpedo-spring in place and hold them exready for use.

tended, but will readily permitthe said ends to slipv upwardly out of the recesseswhen sufficient downward pressure is exerted upon the handle after the torpedo has been brought into contact with the top of the rail, thus removing the stretching strain to which the torpedo-spring is subjected when the ends are confined in the sockets or seats of the jaw and permit said spring to contract and grip the sides of the rail, whereby the torpedo is firmly clamped to the rail.

In order to insure the proper placing of the torpedo when its spring is released from the fork and to hold the torpedo securely in place in the fork, we provide an elastic band 12, preferably of rubber, having its opposite ends secured by suitable means to the fork structure intermediate the retaining-seats for the ends of the spring and the arm 6 and slightly below the position the torpedo occupies when We have shown one end of this band passing through-a hole 13 in the arm 7 and clamped therein by a clamping-pin 14:, while the other end may be similarly secured to a lug-15 on the body 3. By the use of this elastic band stretched tightly over the torpedo when the latter is in position on the fork any change in position of the torpedo as it is being applied is prevented from interfering with the proper placing of the torpedo, because the band remains in contact with the torpedo and follows it up as the torpedo is released, thus exerting suflicient pressure upon it at the critical moment to insure its proper application to the rail. Furthermore, the rubber band acts as a cushion to break the jar or shock upon the torpedo when it is jammed down on the rail and tends to prevent premature explosion, which might otherwise result from contact of the torpedo with the arm 6 of the fork.

We are aware that torpedo-forks have been made in which the torpedo is carried by a spring released by bringing the torpedo into contact with the top of the rail, and therefore lEve do not claim, broadly, such a construction;

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A torpedo-fork having a jaw provided with sockets or seats adapted to receive and removably hold the ends of artorpedo-springr extended, and an elastic band extending across the jaw a suitable distance above the seats with its ends fixed to the opposite sides of said jaw and adapted to bear directly'upon the upper surface of the torpedo throughout its lateral extent and exert yielding pressure downwardly upon the torpedo as it is being applied to the rail, substantially as described.

2. A torpedo-fork having a jaw consisting of an arm extending laterally from the body, of the fork and having a downwardly-bent portion provided with a socket or seat at its lower end and a socket or seat in the body, said sockets or seats being adapted to holdthe ends of a torpedo-spring extended, and an HENRY E. STORER. Witnesses:

WILLIAM T. BAGWELL, CHAUNOEY HoUsE. 

